Psalm 143 (NRSV)
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Verse 1Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness.
Verse 2Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
Verse 3For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
Verse 4Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.
Verse 5I remember the days of old, I think about all your deeds, I meditate on the works of your hands.
Verse 6I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
Verse 7Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
Verse 8Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Verse 9Save me, O Lord, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge.
Verse 10Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.
Verse 11For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life. In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
Verse 12In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant.
Devotion
The fierce honesty of the lament psalms is an invitation to honesty in the pilgrim life. Even our best efforts at faithful living do not always work. The penitential psalms are particularly helpful when we feel overwhelmed by our failures to do good. Ann Weems captures that struggle in “Psalms of Lament:” “O God, I’m afraid to answer my phone for fear it will be bad news again. I live in constant anxiety. The stress has made me sick! O God, do you have a sedative for my soul?” In Psalm 143, the sedatives are these: Remember what God has done. Actively thirst for God. Plead with God to be present. Trust that God’s love is steadfast. Do the will of God.
Prayer
Merciful God, do not overlook me when my spirit is faint. When the days are dark, let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love. Amen.